NY Islanders Prospect Report: Week of 11/20-11/27

As we are just past the quarter-way mark of the season, the NY Islanders AHL affiliate Bridgeport Islanders are continuing to rack up the points. Currently sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division with 28 points (12-3-4), the B-Isles went 2-0-1 last week and are only two points out of first place.

Goals are seemingly coming easy for the B-Isles as the team has the highest goal total (69) in all of the AHL while maintaining to sit middle of the pack in goals allowed (60).

Aside from being one of the best teams in the AHL this season, the B-Isles saw their first call-up to the big club as Simon Hölmstrom made his NHL debut last week against the Edmonton Oilers.

Hölmstrom is replacing the injured Kyle Palmieri and immediately saw action on the Isles' top line playing alongside Mat Barzal. In only his second NHL game, Hölmstrom scored his first career point, assisting on an Oliver Wahlstrom goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

As we enter the holiday season and temperatures begin to drop, plenty of Isles prospects look to remain hot as the season continues to roll on.

Lets take a look at the week that was for the Islanders top prospects.

Matthew Maggio, Windsor Spitfires, OHL (5th Round, 2022)

It was a rough week for Matthew Maggio's Windsor Spitfires, as the team managed to collect only one point in its three games last week. Playing in an extremely challenging West Division, the Spitfires are sitting in third place with 28 points (12-6-3-1).

Though the team may have cooled down a bit last week, Maggio certainly has not. The 20-year-old tallied four more points on the week (one goal, three assists) to bring his season total to 28 (13 goals, 15 assists).

Maggio's best performance of the week came in Windsor's overtime loss to the Flint Firebirds last Friday. Maggio had a hand in all three Spitfires' goals, with a goal and three assists.

Quinn Finley, Madison Capitols, USHL (3rd Round, 2022)

As the Madison Capitols continue to tumble down the standings in the USHL, Quinn Finley remains one of the team's few bright spots as he finds himself on the scoresheet night in and night out.

With a 5-11-1 record, the Capitols are currently riding a five-game losing streak. To no fault of the Isles' 2022 third-round pick, Quinn has been omnipresent throughout the Caps' entire season.

Finley found the back of the net in last Wednesday's matchup with the Green Bay Gamblers giving him eight on the season to go along with 13 assists.

Continuing his struggles in the +/- category, Finley needs to improve his defense at 5v5. He is currently on pace to finish the season with an abysmal - 50 rating.

Finley will now prepare to represent Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge which begins December, 11th.

Samuel Bolduc, Bridgeport Islanders, AHL (2nd Round, 2019)

It's getting more and more challenging to find new words to describe the play of Samuel Bolduc this season. The AHL's second-leading scorer among defensemen added four points in the B-Isles three games last week, including another goal. Not only is Bolduc among the top-scoring defensemen in the league, but he is also in the top 20 in overall scoring.

Bolduc and his large frame are the quintessential makeup for the ideal defenseman. He continues to dominate the AHL in just about all aspects of the game and looks ready for his chance in the NHL when his opportunity comes.

Bolduc, who leads the B-Isles in scoring now, will look to continue leading this exciting team to the Calder Cup Playoffs. That's if he doesn't have more noteworthy things coming in the upcoming months.

Ruslan Iskhakov, Bridgeport Islanders, AHL (2nd Round, 2018)

Still struggling to find his game again, Ruslan Iskhakov is floundering as he has been held scoreless in his last eight games. Since being named the AHL's rookie of the month for October, Iskhakov has only managed three points, all of which game in a single game.

Even after his healthy scratch last week, the young Russian seems to have hit the rookie wall after it looked as if he could leap right over it early in the season.

Still, Iskhakov sits just one point off the lead for all rookie scorers with 15. His five goals and ten assists to start the season were enough to get him out to an early head start, but now that the pack has caught up, Iskhakov needs to find his game once again and get back to the things that worked early on.

William Dufour, Bridgeport Islanders, AHL (5th Round, 2020)

After his stellar final season in the QMJHL, William Dufour hasn't continued the pace with his junior scoring, which should be expected. Though the numbers aren't where he'd hoped they would be, Dufour has been incredibly consistent in his rookie season.

Through 17 games, Dufour has nine points (six goals, three assists), on pace for 38 points in his rookie season. It may not look to be much, but it is a solid start for a fifth-round pick who needs to get used to the pace at the professional level. It wouldn't be unlikely for Dufour to catch fire at some point and blow past these projections.

Last week, Dufour only managed a single point, an assist against the Rochester Americans in Bridgeports 6-5 loss in OT.

Aatu Räty, Bridgeport Islanders, AHL (2nd Round, 2021)

Like Dufour, Aatu Räty is still adapting to the professional game in North America, as he has been solid but not stellar this season.

Finding the back of the net again last week, Räty has lit the lamp four times this season. What has been impressive about Räty is that he is particularly willing to go to the dirty areas to score.

Rätys eight points this season are a bit underwhelming as the former top prospect had high expectations this season which have not been nearly fulfilled.

You can expect Räty to pick up the pace in his game as he continues to get more comfortable. He has the talent to be among the top scorers on this team his game still needs a bit more fine-tuning.